An Anniversary I Wish We Weren’t Marking: One Year Since the MOCP Petition and Public Hearing
One Year Since This Petition Began. Four Years of Standing Up for Our Communities.
It has been one year since I wrote this petition on behalf of a small group of concerned residents, but our concerns about the Modernized Official Community Plan (MOCP) began back in 2022.
Our small group of residents and some Advisory Planning Commission members had been questioning the MOCP's urban planning approach and selective community engagement for years, recognizing it was never a good fit for the CVRD's diverse rural communities.
One year ago, farmers, landowners, foresters, community leaders and rural residents showed up in force at the MOCP public hearing, held with minimum required notice. At that time, this petition had roughly 800 signatures. Despite strong opposition, this and another petition, written submissions and practical recommendations were effectively dismissed. Not one change was adopted following the hearing.
The same concerns carried into the related CZB zoning bylaws. Advisory Planning Commissions and the agricultural community had reviewed preliminary drafts of specific sections in 2025, yet that feedback appeared to be selectively distilled, much like the MOCP engagement.
When the final draft zoning bylaws came forward in March 2026, the rubber hit the road. The implications for rural lifestyles, land use, density and private property rights became clear. By March 2026 residents and chickens were showing up in significant numbers and challenging the direction.
Following overwhelming public pressure, the Board passed a motion to repeal the MOCP and paused work on the related zoning bylaws. However, the repeal process has not started. The MOCP remains in effect and continues to guide development decisions and there is a conflict between current bylaws and the MOCP.
The 2026 newly elected Electoral Area Directors will inherit the responsibility of resolving this, whether through repeal and replacement or another planning approach. In the meantime, the uncertainty affects property owners, farmers, businesses, families and anyone looking to build or invest in our communities.
My sincere thanks to the small group who stood alongside this effort from 2022 through 2025, spending countless hours reviewing documents, attending meetings and asking questions when few were paying attention. And to everyone who stepped forward in the spring of 2026, your voices made a difference.
The MOCP has become a major issue in the 2026 local government elections, and support for reform continues.
This was never about opposing planning. It was about getting planning right for the people and communities who live here.
Four years later, 2300+ petition signatures we still need clear, reasonable and stable planning policies that respect our rural communities, property rights and the people who call them home.